ALTEN
in France
French market leader in R&D outsourcing

With 37 billion euros invested in 2013, France is the second largest contributor to European R&D.
R&D outsourcing practices are more mature than most with an outsourcing rate of about 20% and high customer expectations as to the capacity of engineering firms for operational organization in full project mode.

In this market, ALTEN is the leader in the Engineering and Technology Consultancy (ICT) branch. Nationwide presence with fifteen locations in Ile de France and the Regions provides a well-balanced platform for operations in all 3 business functions and every sector of activity.

More than 50% of ALTEN’s activity in France is carried out in Project mode under the guidance of the Group’s Engineering Department, according to standard methodologies evaluated to CMMi-SVC Level 3. A considerable portion of these projects is carried out in ALTEN infrastructures, with total outsourcing.

Today, ALTEN is the first choice supplier for most major industrial companies in France.

Customised development of IT systems, for information systems departments in industry, telecoms and the service sector.

ALTEN, the European leader in engineering and technology consulting, provides support for its clients’ development strategies in the fields of innovation, R&D and it systems.

Its 21,300 top engineers carry out studies and conception projects for the technical and information systems divisions of large corporate clients in the industrial, telecommunications and services sectors.

During the last twenty years, R & D investments have helped to meet the challenges now facing the industry: performance, security, productivity gains, regulations, quality, internationalisation, telematics, remediation and hybridisation.

In a sector under pressure, where the strategies of manufacturers vary significantly from one region to the next, product offering has been extended and segmented at the same time.
More than 2,000 ALTEN consultants are actively employed in our subsidiaries in France and abroad on projects for the largest European manufacturers and OEMs.

Rapid urbanisation and the rise of environmental concerns have made rail a dynamic sector. Traffic is set to grow by around 5% annually and the global market should increase by an average of 2.6% annually between now and 2017.

In France, the world’s third-biggest rail market after China and Germany, upcoming programmes mean activity should be robust for several years to come. international prospects are also opening up. Rail-related exports are set to double by 2020.

The issue of energy mix lies at the core of industrial strategy. Reducing the share of nuclear power requires the development of alternative energies, which, although promising (tidal power, offshore wind) have not settled into an acceptable economic model on a large-scale.

Study and design projects are particularly varied, and have enabled ALTEN to deploy its product and services in upkeep and maintenance, equipment design, management of major programmes, or the deployment of cross-functional skills (IS, Telecom) for the intelligent distribution of energy (Smart grids).

Technological challenges The health industry is increasingly using connected objects (IoT) and analysis software (big data) to optimise the effectiveness of medical diagnosis and treatments. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical laboratories continue to invest in R&D and the production of new drugs to fight against generic drugs. Digitisation of the health sector: IoT and software fast expanding 2016 was particularly significant for the e-health sector. According to the 2016 report of the business consulting firm, Grand View Research, the global […]

ALTEN’s three areas of expertise (Consultancy and Technologies, Telecommunications Networks, Information Systems) allow it to interface naturally with technical and information system departments in the manufacturing industry.

These skills also enable it to deploy its services in other areas, such as service and distribution (information systems, development of web and mobile interfaces), industrial equipment and processing industries.

After several years of crises of various kinds (financial crisis, sovereign debt…), financial institutions have entered a phase of winback.

Stress tests showed that banks could resist a significant downturn in the economy, and many IT projects are now promoted by major French banks to increase operational efficiency and manage risks and customer relations, thereby opening up significant prospects for ALTEN’s growth.

The telecommunications sector is going through through a period of deep-seated change, due to new entrants (Over-the-top, MVNOs…) and the explosion of data traffic requiring high speed broadband networks.

Major opportunities to develop have opened up for Alten, linked to the new technical challenges in the sector.

These include the development of further high-speed networks that use 4g and its Lte standard for mobile and fibre optic for fixed line. other emerging issues in the sector are mobile apps, connected tV, social networks and the challenge of providing continuous Qos, definedmainly as speed, availability and network coverage.

The aeronautics sector was one of the key drivers for the world economy in 2012. The longer-term prospects of the sector are encouraging: passenger traffic is set to grow by 150% in the next twenty years and the current global aircraft fleet should more than double in the same time.

The big issue for the industry is how to meet orders on time, creating pressure throughout the chain from equipment suppliers to engineers. In this environment, ALTEN expects its business in this sector to grow consistently faster than the group average as the main clients commission major volumes of long-term studies.

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Project Organization

The global projects offering accounts for 50% of ALTEN’s business
Streamlining of supplier panels, used to establish integrated engineering suppliers, our true technology partners, and the focus on productivity gains by customers.
Global projects involve several levels of responsibility and can be carried out either on the client’s premises or via total outsourcing at an ALTEN Delivery centre.